CND Ivory Coast is a sheer ivory off white jelly from their 2011 spring collection. It's super sheer but actually only took 3 coats to get this look. I actually like that it's sheer. It's a soft delicate mani that suited my mood perfectly. I just wanted something so my nails had a little color and shine. This would work nicely for a french mani as well as underwear for nail art. I'm thinking about adding an OPI Sheer Tint over it the next time I wear this. Application was smooth and easy. A nice change from the darks and designs I've been wearing lately.

Monday, December 8, 2014

I spent some time this past weekend working on a banner and logo for my blog. I'm pleased with the results :D

Today I'm wearing Zoya Morgan

Zoya Morgan is a long time favorite for me. It's a cool toned pink creme. Once again, it falls into that pink category that I love so much. I always have fun with these pinks. And Zoya formula is outstanding. You can't ask for a better application. I just can't get enough Zoya pink. They make the prettiest cremes. I always love a good creme. I'm all about fancy and fun manis, but sometimes I just want a simple girly pretty mani. Morgan fits the bill perfectly!

Friday, December 5, 2014

Everyone is losing their minds this holiday season over Orly Mirrorball. I'm no exception. This polish is amazeballs!!!

Orly Mirrorball is part of their holiday 2014 Sparkle Collection and sparkle it does! Mirrorball is silver linear holographic with a little bit of holographic glitter. I mean what's not to lose your mind over?!? The holo effect in this is intense. There's no denying it's sparkly. I used aqua base under just to make the holo effect more intense. It's not necessary, it's just my routine with holo polish, I think this will be on my nails for New Year's Eve also. It's a definite party polish.
I added Maybelline Onyx Rush for my thumb and ring finger for accent. I love the look of black with silver. It's so classic. Onyx Rush is a really nice black creme that I reach for often. It wears well and is just thick enough to make it easy to apply.
I can't wait to wear this mani again!

Thursday, December 4, 2014

It's getting to be Christmas time again so it's the perfect time to bring out the reds!

OPI Love Is A Racket was released back in the summer of 2011 in their Serena Williams Glam Slam! US collection. Love Is A Racket is a cherry red with hot pink glitter that shimmers. It's really stunning. I wear this just about every December. It's great for summer too. It just plain looks good any time! The formula is consistent with OPI's great standard and wear time is long lasting. This will look great while I go out to do some Christmas shopping. I can't wait :D

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Matte polish is very popularn this fall. Jesse's Girl has an entire collection with satin finish. A little less matte than totally matte, but not quite shiny.

Jesse's Girl Brunello is just like her name; a deep purple wine shade. Brunello was released in the fall 2014 Satin Finish collection. It is really a deep shade of reddish purple with just a hint of shimmery shine. It applied really nice and had a good dry time. This is two coats with no top coat. I think it would probably be stunning with top coat though as well. But I wanted to let the satin finish show. Th wear time on Brunello was surprisingly good considering I didn't use top coat. That's a pleasant surprise! All in all this is the perfect vampy shade for fall.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

I have a couple more from Morgan Taylor Lacquer. I seriously love this brand!

Morgan Taylor Lip Service is a beautiful barbie pink creme. The formula on this was perfect! It applied so smooth and easy. Wear on this brand is long lasting. I wear my polish generally 2 or 3 days, but this I ended up wearing for 5 and absolutely zero chips. Amazing.
Morgan Taylor Fame Game is a stunning holographic micro glitter. It applied perfect as well and was smooth even before top coat. It dried a little matte but a coat of quick dry top coat and the sparkle is incredible.
I love this mani. It is the perfect girly princess mani and exactly what I need on occasion. I do love a pink mani.

Monday, December 1, 2014

I really loved this polish as soon as I saw it. I wore it the same day I got it, actually. It's one of those berry pink shades I just love wearing.

Sally Hansen Back To The Fuchsia is a berry pink/fuchsia with a subtle shimmer of blue. The shimmer isn't super obvious, but in the right light it just glows. I love that unexpected bonus with this polish. It applied just fine in spite of the brush in this line of Sally Hansen that I absolutely despise! It is wide like OPI but that's where the similarities stop. It just doesn't work well for me. So I ended up glopping it onto my cuticles so many times that clean up was a horror. That said, the formula is not bad and the wear is wonderful. It's just the brush. And the brush might be fine for most. I just seem to have trouble with it. It's not going to stop me from wearing this again, that's for sure. Also, it did stain my nail slightly pink even though I used China Glaze Adhesion and Bliss Kiss Ridge Filling base coat. This polish is a beauty anyway!!

Friday, November 28, 2014

Well it's the day everyone gets up at O-dark-thirty and runs around town buying Christmas presents and acting like maniacs. Am I going out in it? Sort of. DH and I have a tradition and go out every Black Friday around 8 and get the Pandora limited edition bead they reveal on this day. It's a new-ish tradition for us. Since 2011. Before that we didn't go out into the madness. By the time we get out there most of the crazy stuff is done already, so it's not too bad.

I'm not quite ready for Christmas manis so I kept with a Thanksgiving color scheme for today.

OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys is the absolute perfect brown. There are no undertones making it seem red or even purplish as some browns tend to lean. It's just a lovely chocolate brown. Suzi Loves Cowboys was released in the spring 2011 Texas collection. Application was smooth, though it's a little thin so I was careful not to flood my cuticles...after I flooded one and needed to start that nail over :D

My accent nail is Zoya Ziv is an intense gold foil and is super opaque in just two coats. You could even get by with one coat if you wanted it a little less intense. I went for two though because I wanted Ziv in all her glory. Ziv was released in the Ornate holiday 2012 collection .

Thursday, November 27, 2014

First I want to wish my Mom a happy birthday! I hope you have the best day, Mom!

I actually bought this polish two years ago on Halloween day. I am just now wearing it...I hate when I forget I have a polish. It is fun thought to "shop my stash" and find "new" polish. *sigh* I should start a list of polish I need to wear and keep better track. :D Like that's gonna happen

Smitten Polish Spics Cake is multi sized orange, gold and brown hex glitter in an orange crelly base. It's really pretty! Mine was pretty thick. Maybe because it's been sitting for so long. I'll add some thinner before I wear it again. What I can't fix though is how bad it smells. I mean it was stinky! It gave me a full on headache, but the headache didn't last long. Once I was done applying the polish and washed my hands it pretty much went away on it's own. Application wasn't bad even with it being thick. It applied smooth and was opaque in two coats. I added HK Girl Glisten & Glow quick dry top coat and it dried smooth and shiny. I love this polish!

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

There was a time when I thought blue polish isn't for me. I have since mended my ways. Blue is gorgeous for nail polish and I quite like it. China Glaze First Mate is a prime example of why I have changed my mind.

China Glaze First Mate is a shiny royal blue creme and was part of the Anchors Away collection released in the spring of 2011. Oh boy, this polish is so pretty. I can't even stand it! Application was so perfect and it wears really well. I don't really have anything more to say. When you're good, you're good. And believe me First Mate is good!

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Boy the nail polish groups I'm in went crazy over this polish recently. For some reason Color Club is changing / has changed the formula on this polish and it will no longer be flakies. I have no idea why. But it's tragic :(

My mani with Essence Break Through was still going strong so I decided to add a couple coats of Color Club The Uptown over it. They just looked like they'd work well together...BINGO
They look hella good together. I think this is pure winning! Color Club The Uptown is purple jelly with beautiful little flakies in it that flash golden/pink and it looks ahh may zing with Break Through. I am thrilled with the results.
I added two coats of The Uptown, though one could have been enough depending on how much flakie action you want. I wanted a lot. So two coats! I added quick dry top coat to seal it up and dry it fast. Quick and easy mani. Happy :)

Monday, November 24, 2014

I have been reaching for my Essence polish lately. I think it's those cute little bottles calling out to me. I haven't bought any Essence since they changed their bottles. I just hate having different bottles with the same name brand. I'm looking at you Sally Hansen!

Essence Break Through is amazing! It's a super bright and shiny almost neon purple. I really liked this in the bottle. On my nails...I loved it. It's gorgeous! Application was smooth and easy though I did use 3 coats to get it opaque. I didn't mind at all. I have like 30 of these essence polishes and they're mostly all untried. I'll be fixing that in the near future. One lovely mani at a time <3

Friday, November 21, 2014

I was looking through instagram a while back and came across this super cute gradient pink and blue mani by @sloteazzy. She has a youtube channel too https://m.youtube.com/user/sloteazzy
I knew immediately I was going to try and do my own version of it.

I haven't blogged a gradient yet. I don't think I've done one I love as much as this one for sure! It was so easy and I think it turned out great.
I used Zoya Purity for the base. For the gradient I used a make up sponge and applied China Glaze Dance Baby and Color Club Take Me To Your Chateau. For the accent nail I used Amy's Nail Boutique Cotton Candy...of course! I topped that off with quick dry top coat. I am in love. This is the perfect fun mani for the weekend.

China Glaze Dance Baby is the perfect shade of baby pink from the 2012 Electropop collection and Color Club Take Me To Your Chateau is the perfect shade of a baby blue released in the Pardon My French 2010 collection. Combined, they're the perfect cotton candy colors.
Amy's Nail Boutique Cotton Candy is a fun mix of blue and pink matte glitter in clear base.

And then...I topped it with OPI Matte Top Coat and holy cow! I loved it even more.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

We recently went to see The Addams Family Musical. It was really funny and a lot of fun. DH is always getting tickets for us to go to see shows. It's one of our favorite date night things to do.

Zoya Alix is a deep brownish red creme from the 2008 Pulse and Vibe collection. It's a shade of red I really enjoy wearing. Appication for Alix was super easy and this is 2 coats with top coat. I added a bat and moon with a star for the night. I love adding an accent nail and this seemed perfect for the show. All in all it was a great night.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Color Club Ultra Violet was part of the Electro Candy collection released in 2009. It's a bright neon violet purple with a blue green shimmer. I got this entire set at Ross the year after it was released for a great price.
The shimmer in Ultra Violet is the star of this polish, the whole collection really. I've seen these shades of neon before, but that shimmer! Application was great. It's sheer so it took 3 easy coats to get opaque. I really like this polish! I'm sad it took me so long to try it out. I hope I don't wait this long for the rest of the collection.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

I probably have more pink and red polish than any other colors. I really love them the best. They're pretty typical polish colors, but I think they're typical for a reason. They're gorgeous and girly and women just love them.

OPI The One That Got Away is part of the Katy Perry collection released back in 2011. The One That Got Away is a red wine with pink shimmer. It's a pretty color. I like it a lot. The formula is just perfect. It's a little sheer so I did 3 coats to get it opaque, added some quick dry and beautiful!

Monday, November 17, 2014

I wanted a neutral type of polish for today. I've done a lot of color and designs lately and I just needed simple and pretty.

Essence Walk Of Fame is a cute little bottle of polish I've had in my Alex since like 2011 and untried. What a shame! I don't know how I let this little pretty sit so long unloved. It's just lovely. I love the shade. I call it taupe. It's brownish grey and I adore these shades. When we remodeled our living room/ dining room/ kitchen this year we used neutral taupes and the like. They're very comfortable colors to surround yourself in. The formula on this was not awesome. It was pretty thick and almost goopy. That very likely could be because it's been sitting so long unused. I'm not sure. But it was opaque in two coats and I added some quick dry and it is so shiny! Love this :D

Friday, November 14, 2014

I love berry pink polish so much. A friend of mine bought a second bottle of this Morgan Taylor Sitting Pretty by accident so she gave it to me. Boy am I glad she did! This is only my second bottle of Morgan Taylor but I am officially a fan! There will be more MT polish in my future.

My friend Kim gave me the Morgan Taylor polish and also some 3D nail embellishments. This heart was one of them. I loved this look and the heart just makes it pop! For this mani I used:Thumb: Morgan Taylor Sitting PrettyIndex: OPI This Gown Needs A CrownMiddle: Morgan Taylor Sitting Pretty with dots of China Glaze Liquid Leather and OPI This Gown Needs A CrownRing: OPI This Gown Needs A CrownPinky: Orly Miss Conduct

Morgan Taylor Sitting Pretty is a gorgeous berry pink crelly that applied like a dream. It wears really well also.
OPI This Gown Needs A Crown is a silver satin finish that I find myself grabbing lately every time I want silver. Beautiful, and I love the satin finish.
China Glaze Liquid Leather is a super shiny black creme. It's my favorite black creme. Ever!
Orly Miss Conduct is also berry pink. It's a scattered holographic. My favorite type of holo. It's just lovely.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

I love purple and red together. I always have. There's something royal about it. If it's the right, deep shade of purple and red it's just stunning. I was thinking about Zoya Carter and it came to me that Zoya Chyna might look good with it.

Zoya Carter and Zoya Chyna are both from the Pixie Dust collections, Carter was released in the fall of 2013 and is a gorgeous grape purple with hot pink shimmer. Chyna is cherry red with lighter red shimmer and was in the previous release in February of 2013. I was so right about these gorgeous shades. They look even better than it did in my head. Oh I love this combo. It's one I think I will recreate for Christmas. Application of the Zoya Pixie Dust polishes is so easy. They just glide onto the nail. They take 30 minutes or so to dry and as they're drying the texture begins to come out. It's pretty cool! They go on so shiny and seemingly smooth. But after about 20 minutes the magic begins and by about 45 minutes or so they're completely pixie dusted :D Every time I wear a pixie dust I am so into feeling the texture and having others feel it too. I'm sure people think I'm silly. I don't care. Textured polish is incredible and I insist others share in the awesome-sauce.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Zoya Arlo is part of this summer's Magical Pixie Dust collection. These pixie dust are different from the previous pixie dust releases. They're textured like pixie dust but they have silver holographic hex glitter in abundance. Zoya Arlo is magenta jelly base with glittery holographic awesomesauce. It's seriously textured. It was really thick and I was concerned it would not apply easily, but I was wrong. It applied really easily in spite of the thickness. It wears like a fortress! Nothing is gonna hurt this mani. It did take for.ev.er to dry though. Over an hour and it was still drying. As it dries the texture becomes more and more apparent. Overall I like the magical pixie dust finish. It's fun for something different!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

OPI Midnight In Moscow is a blackened red from the 2007 Russian collection. Oh em gee does it get any more gorgeous than this color? I absolutely love wearing dark vampy shades. Seriously. Love. It's hard to see in my pictures, but Midnight In Moscow has a super pretty red shimmer. It looks black, but then you see it in sunlight and wow! SO pretty. I love the formula of this older polish. They go on so easily. Back when all the chemicals were just part of nail polish :D The good ole days!

Monday, November 10, 2014

This is my first time journaling Avon nail polish. I used Avon polish years and years ago, but this collection was my first recent purchase. I don't have anyone to buy from anymore, so I guess I just haven't really thought about buying more polish.

Avon Starlight is a golden yellow holographic from the Cosmic collection released last summer (2013). The holographic effect in this collection is really nice. Scattered is my favorite style of holographic. Yellow is a color I rarely wear in clothing, but sort of enjoy wearing for nail polish. This polish was super easy to apply! It's suprisingly shiny for a holographic. I didn't use any top coat and it shines so well. I love that!

Friday, November 7, 2014

Skittle manis allow me to use several polishes at one time and dwindle my un-trieds list a little. It's probably going to take me the rest of my life to use them all, but at least with skittles once in a while I'll (hopefully) end up using them all.

Here's my most recent:

I've been wanting to do a pink skittle mani. I spent several days thinking about color combos before I even got a single bottle out to see how they look together. This is what I ended up with, and I'm really pleased with it. I wore it on a trip we just took and it lasted 6 days without any major damage. I got a chip on each middle finger and one on my right index finger. None were noticeable at all. Perfect mani for a trip.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Textured polish is a trend that I have wholeheartedly jumped into with both feet...or hands I guess :D It may be fall, but I'm wearing pink anyway!

China Glaze Wish On A Starfish is a baby pink textured polish with golden shimmer that isn't really showing up well in my pictures. It's there though, and it's really pretty. Wish On A Starfish is from the Sea Goddess collection released just this past spring (2014). It applied really easily and dried fast enough that I didn't end up messing it up. Which is always a good thing. Wear time on this collection is also great. China Glaze does textures really well and much different from the other textures I own which makes these a perfect addition to my collection.